A horse trainer taken to court over the use of $100,000 for his racing interests has come to a confidential settlement with the woman he obtained the money from after they met on Tinder. Steve Cunningham is a Wangaratta-based trainer who denied he conned the woman out of her money. Legal action was taken after he refused to pay back the six-figure sum. The woman was in tears in Wangaratta Magistrates Court on Thursday trying to win her money back, as the civil case was heard in front of magistrate Fran Medina. There was no dispute that the woman provided him with the $100,000, but while she said it was a loan to be paid back, he claimed it was an investment in the racehorses. "There's no agreement for a loan or repayment," Mr Cunningham told the court. "I have no idea what the other person agreed to." He and the woman only ever had verbal discussions about the money, making it a case of his word against hers. "It's problematic when an oral agreement hasn't been produced in writing," Ms Medina said. Mr Cunningham said he had a recording of a conversation between the pair, which referred back to an agreement for an investment, but it was not played to the court. The case was stood down in court for more than an hour on Thursday, as the two parties discussed the issues privately. When they returned, the plaintiff's barrister Charles Morgan said the matter had been resolved. The terms of settlement were handed to the court, but remain confidential. The civil case against Mr Cunningham to pay back the money was struck out, and neither side applied for legal costs from the other. MORE NEWS FROM COURT:
Mr Cunningham chose to appear at the hearing without a lawyer.
Ms Medina questioned why he chose to represent himself, saying lawyers spent a year studying contract law. "It's quite a complex area of law," she said. The parties had gone through mediation before the case reached the Magistrates Court. "I thought it was pretty simple - the plaintiff invested some money in some horses and that was it," Mr Cunningham said. Mr Cunningham has continued to have success in his racing, including taking out the feature event at the Wagga Picnic Cup in October.
His horse The Weald stormed home late to take out the 2000-metre feature race for the seven-year-old's first win in a year.